Money Talks, but He Keeps Quiet for Now

It’s the No. 1 talk show topic in Baltimore: How much will shortstop Cal Ripken get when he re-signs with the Orioles? How about $7 million per year?

It’s only a guessing game, because neither Ripken nor the Orioles are talking.

“I’m signed through the end of the year,” Ripken said. “It’s baseball time now. I’m focusing on baseball. I’d rather not talk about it now.”

But talk show speculation has it that if Bobby Bonilla got $29 million for five years from the New York Mets with lesser numbers, and if the Chicago Cubs’ Ryne Sandberg gets, as rumored, a $31 million, five-year deal, Ripken should at least become baseball’s first $7 million-per-year player next season.

Ripken hit .323 last year, with 34 homers and 114 runs batted in. He also extended his consecutive-games played streak to 1,573 games. And he was voted the American League’s most valuable player.

Trivia time: Who is the oldest living former world heavyweight boxing champion?

Clark bark: Boston Red Sox ace Roger Clemens is late to spring training and teammate Jack Clark, is unhappy about it.

“We all know he stays in great shape,” Clark said.

“But I think this shows up the manager a little bit. And it looks like he puts himself above the team. Roger’s not a bad guy, but this makes him look like a bad guy. And even if he doesn’t think he’s above the team, this creates the perception of that.”

Clark, of course, is an expert on unhappy teammates. He has had celebrated run-ins with former teammates Ozzie Smith and Tony Gwynn.

No More Magic: Laker forward James Worthy says life is much tougher without Magic Johnson around.

“It’s different for everyone without Earvin around,” Worthy said. “The one thing you can say about him is that he made his teammates better because he understood the game and where you should get the ball and when you should get it.

“I’m not knocking anyone we have now. It’s just that Earvin is the best.”

Worthy, who began this season with a career 54% shooting average, is shooting 44% this season--largely because he’s not getting dunks and layups on passes from Johnson.

“Worthy’s the same player, but it’s not as easy for him as it was with Magic,” Xavier McDaniel of the New York Knicks said.

“Magic would get him three or four dunks a game on the break, a couple of easy layups . . . just because Magic had a way of finding him. That’s gone now.”

Trivia answer: Jack Sharkey, 89. Max Schmeling, 86, defeated Sharkey for the vacant title on a foul in 1930, but lost it back to Sharkey on a 1932 decision.

Quotebook: Green Bay Packer tackle Tony Mandarich, on Green Bay: “I’m being honest. Green Bay is not a metropolis. It’s not Los Angeles or New York. It’s not even Buffalo.”